Favourite Number 4
by extremexunyi
Summary: Ichigo has fought numerous Espada and has defeated one of the top 3. Yet as he stands before Ulqiorra, why does it seem that he cannot defeat him? Was the gap between the 4th Espada and the top 3 that small? Or is it another secret?


**A/N :** A one shot for one of my favourite animes Currently, I follow the ANIME but I do know how far the manga is now. I will not use references to the manga as it might spoil it for some people. Anywho, this one-shot is 100 fiction, and there will be some spoilers. This is like a future scene after Ichigo defeats Espada 1 or 2 or 3 or just anyone higher ranked than Ulqiorra. Ulqiorra is my favourite Espada and Arrancar, this is what I wish would happen.

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This was their 3rd and would be their final meeting. Ichigo glared at Ulqiorra as the latter stared right back; unfazed by Ichigo's obvious anger. The enraged shinigami gritted his teeth even harder as he unwrapped his oversized zanpakuto. The blade shone lightly as it moved swiftly in front of the orange haired fighter, its tip fiercely pointing at the Espada.

"Ban-KAI!"

Black streams of power and energy engulfed the said vizard, and with a slice in between, a black katana evolved. Ichigo glared even heavier towards Ulqiorra as his extended cape followed the wind. The chains on his current pitch black blade jingled for a moment before moving forward towards Ulqiorra. Calmly, Ulqiorra blocked Ichigo's attack with his right hand, reserving his other hand for a cero.

Ichigo noticed this and instantaneously bounce back.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

A black whip outlined by a colour that resembled blood materialized and accelerated through the air towards Ulqiorra. The cero that had been prepared fired with a bright green blast, but to the Espada's surprise, the spiritual blast that had formed from Tensa Zangetsu had grown strong enough to fully deflect his cero.

Ichigo took advantage of his momentary pause in battle and sped behind him, clashing with him once more. He struck down on the Espada three times before it became a stalemate, to which Ichigo recklessly used his Getsuga Tenshou to prevent any possibility of a counter attack.

Before the arrancar in front of Ichigo could fully recover, he found himself facing Ichigo's determined face once more in a deadlock.

"Grimmjow was right, you did grow stronger."

"You were the one who kidnapped Orihime! I won't forgive you! GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

Another black whip emerged and exploded directly in between Ichigo and Ulqiorra. The orange haired vizard stood confidently but cautiously. Blood continuously pumped through his body as he waited for a response in the midst of destroyed furniture. Ichigo's eyes widened for a split second before he twisted his body, narrowly missing a green ball of energy that had burst out abruptly from the debris. He spun round quickly as a white figure blazed out the smoke in an attempt to stab Ichigo in the same place he had in their first encounter.

"Getsuga-"  
"Cero."

Ulqiorra's melancholic appearance remained as a green blast initiating with a cross appeared at the fingertips of the Espada. In response, Ichigo let out his own blast of Getsuga Tenshou, creating yet another but devastating explosion.

The substitute shinigami had barely regained his balance when he quickly dodged a bala followed by four more continuous ones before finally coming face to face with the frowning enemy.

"Gran Ray Cero."

The name itself seemed to have triggered a chain reaction as replays of Grimmjow using the devastating cero appeared. Ichigo swiftly moved his free arm to his face but was stunned as Ulqiorra switched hands to stop Ichigo from going through hollowification. Damnation took it's limelight on Ichigo as the vizard braced himself for the humongous green blast that manifested.

Ulqiorra calmly jumped back from the impact in the case Ichigo managed to counter attack. He frowned more than usual as he casually used his right hand to block a speeding 'Getsuga Tenshou'. Placing his arm back into his pocket, he watched as the smoke cleared, through two giant pillars, Ichigo panted heavily but his face, ready.

"Heh...You're much stronger than that Stark...I can tell...I believe his number was 2?"

"If you can't even remember the rank of someone you defeated you are not worth my time."

"How can you be number four if I defeated an Espada with a higher rank!?"

Ichigo charged forward, intensifying his reaitsu and striking down on Ulqiorra, causing the end of his sleeves to rip slightly as he parried the attack. Both parties bounced back and immediately Ichigo began to circle around the unfazed Ulqiorra rapidly, leaving about three images with every extra step.

"Your trick doesn't work."

Finally deciding that he could not possibly defeat the strengthened Ichigo with one hand in his pocket, he swiftly and pulled out both arms, and narrowing his eyes at the multiple images, fired rapid bala in succession, slowly but surely elimination images which Ulqiorra described in his mind as 'annoying'.

Grinning slightly, Ichigo struck on what seemed to be a defenseless spot; to his dismay, Ulqiorra's melancholic face came back into the confident vizard's view as he used both hands this time to create another deadlock in which Ichigo pressed harder and harder, attempting to break through Ulqiorra's defenses.

"Why is it so hard to defeat you even though I defeated an Espada of a higher rank!? Damn it! Getsuga Tenshou!"

"You don't even have your mask."

Ichigo released the blast at full power just to observe a skidding arrancar in ragged clothing. Yet his skin was only scratched, and his face, still unfazed by Ichigo's relentless attacks. Even Stark, who was confirmed to be an Espada of higher rank would suffer a scar from Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou. Ichigo was at his wits end, he was wasting energy, tilting his body slightly, he raised his left hand, covering three quarters of his face except his eyes, he did not want to waste time, Aizen had begun to attack Karakura.

"You finally decide to put your mask. I've heard you've managed to hold it for at least 12 minutes and 5 seconds now."

With no response in particular, Ichigo ignored Ulqiorra's statement and unleashed a dark aura around him. Although the darkness of his clothing and blade had not changed, in the place of his face was a white mask, similar to the other Hollows in the world of Hueco Mundo. After giving the 4th Espada some time to release his blade, he cursed inwardly at Ulqiorra's underestimation of his powers even after knowing that he had used this same evil powered mask to defeat a person stronger than him.

Faster than before, the black vizard was face to face with the arrancar before one could even finish blinking, but Ulqiorra only showed a slight face of frustration before quickly firing a cero to parry his Getsuga Tenshou. This proved to be a losing battle as each successful cero that parried Ichigo's multiple Getsuga Tenshou seemed to be exploding with the black whip closer and closer to Ulqiorra.

After 8 strikes of Getsuga Tenshou, Ichigo intercepted Ulqiorra's attempt to avoid the incoming force and swung his blade at his body. Narrowing his eyes only by a little, Ulqiorra moved at a equally fast speed around Ichigo and tried to execute another stab just to be locked with the thin slender blade.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"  
"Gran Ray Cero."

Ulqiorra's voice was as collected as before, but Ichigo could sense the fear and uneasiness in Ulqiorra, as if deciding if he should give up before Ichigo or continue to fight. The Gran Ray Cero proved to be a mere distraction as the Getsuga Tenshou managed to parry it with relative ease. Ulqiorra skidded in the air, and for a moment, he glared at Ichigo.

Another strike directed at his shoulder was blocked by the currently disadvantageous Ulqiorra. He blocked multiple strikes and had to resort to Gran Ray Cero each time he was caught in a dead lock, knowing the vizard in front of him had his powers tripled since he donned the mask. His current Getsuga Tenshou, although had only a slight increase in speed, doubled in magnitude as it impacted Ulqiorra's Gran Ray Cero.

But it had been one full minute. Ichigo was beginning to feel demoralised. He was battling an opponent supposedly weaker than two others whom he had struggled to defeat with his mask on, and that was only after they had released their blades. But the 4th Espada was giving him an amazing load of stress as he only managed to successfully blow Ulqiorra with a single Getsuga Tenshou which left his entire left sleeve missing.

Ulqiorra face reverted back to his standard look, unfazed by his missing clothes piece, he took this moment to finally get to the offensive. Ichigo cursed inwardly as he blocked his attacks, he was even having difficulty successfully parrying his attacks even though the arrancar had yet to release his powers. Ulqiorra was analytic, using quick attacks in succession instead of strong blows to prevent stalemates where he and Ichigo would resort to the Gran Ray Cero and Getsuga Tenshou respectively.

Finally Ulqiorra slowed down his pace, to which Ichigo jumped over him and swung his blade directly at his back.

"I won't lose to a person worse than someone I've defeated!"

A black shot shaped in a crescent crashed down on Ulqiorra.

The smoke cleared momentarily, revealing Ulqiorra, who only barely managed to block the attack with a Gran Ray Cero. Both sleeves had been disintegrated and the rushing wind from the explosion revealed the number '4' on Ulqiorra. The number '4' that demoralised Ichigo repeatedly and meant that Ichigo had grown weaker. It was killing him psychologically.

Ichigo watched as Ulqiorra placed his hand over the hilt of the his zanpakuto, prepared to perform Resurrection. Ichigo did not bother to stop the Espada as his power seemed to intensify to equal that of Ichigo. The same evil aura seemed to surround him as he drew his blade from it's sheath. But before the process, he looked at Ichigo with his stoic face.

"You are right."

Ichigo's heart skipped a beat as his now yellow eyes widened.

"I am stronger than even Espada 1."

Ichigo felt his fingers instinctively hold the blade tighter than before.

"I chose the position Espada 4 because."

Ichigo took his stance and heard the chains at the hilt of his blade jingle slightly.

"4 represents death. It is my favourite number."

Ichigo accelerated through the air towards Ulqiorra as his unfazed expression remained, but his lips slowly mouthed the release of his zanpakuto, his true power.

'4 is your favourite number huh?' The sentence was the last to enter Ichigo's mind before the battle between him and the strongest arrancar in it's Resurrected state fought...

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**A/N :** Uhm well I guess there were minor spoilers. If you did not notice the spoilers, GOOD FOR YOU! Please rate and review though, I love Ulqiorra, oh please don't flame just because you are an Ulqiorra hater. This is not the actual outcome of the anime/manga, I just hope it would be.

P.S. I did not continue the fight with Ulqiorra in his Resurrected form because I don't know his zanpakuto's release, name and abilities ;P


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